抑郁症的脑结构与功能异常:来自静息态下多模态脑影像的研究证据

传统单一模态、单一分析方法在揭示抑郁症脑机制上存在较多局限;而新近多种模态、多种分析方法的结合可在一定程度上较好地促进对抑郁症脑功能和结构的全面探索、挖掘,可以更加有效地运用和实施于早期辅助诊断、干预治疗当中。因此,本文首先简要介绍了多种模态下的脑影像指标及其分析技术,而后分别从结构及功能神经影像数据融合等方面,概述了抑郁症脑结构和功能的研究现状,发现抑郁症患者存在诸多脑区及相关环路结构及功能的异常。同时,通过对抑郁症多模态研究现状的梳理和总结,结合我们已有的相关前期研究工作,对未来抑郁症等情感障碍的进一步研究工作提出了一些思考和展望。     

反刍思维的脑功能网络机制

反刍思维是指个体在经历了消极生活事件后不由自主地反复思考该事件的产生原因、经过和结果, 表现出负性自我参照加工、消极情绪性以及持续性的特点。采用脑功能网络分析方法, 研究者发现反刍思维的上述三个特点分别与默认网络内部的异常活动模式、突显网络功能连接的改变以及注意相关网络之间的异常耦合有关。未来研究应进一步明确反刍思维与相关脑网络活动之间的因果关系, 探究反刍思维脑功能网络的结构基础, 同时也应关注反刍思维及其脑网络的老龄化特征, 并致力于探索有效干预反刍思维的神经调控技术。     

变量间的网络分析模型及其应用

变量间的网络分析模型近年来被广泛应用于心理学研究。不同于将潜变量作为观测变量的共同先导因素的潜变量模型, 网络分析模型将观测变量作为初级指标, 采用图论的方法建立观测变量之间的关系网络, 其中变量为网络的节点, 而变量间的关系是节点之间的连线。因此网络分析可以突显观测变量之间的联系以及观测变量相互影响而形成的系统。通过变量网络中基于各个节点特征的指标(如中心性)以及基于整体结构特征的指标(如小世界性), 网络分析为研究各种心理现象提供了新的可视化的描述方式和理解视角。近10年来, 网络分析的方法已在人格心理学、社会心理学和临床心理学等领域得到一定的应用。未来研究应继续发展和完善网络分析模型的理论和方法, 使之运用到更多的数据类型和更广的研究领域中。     

失眠患者静息态脑网络的改变：网络内与网络间的功能连接异常

失眠已成为现代人群中的一种高发健康问题。静息态功能磁共振以其数据采集便利性和无创性, 成为失眠研究的主要成像手段之一。基于近年来静息态功能磁共振的发现, 失眠患者存在前额叶、颞叶、前扣带回、脑岛等认知-情绪神经环路的异常。大尺度脑网络是涵盖多个脑区、功能相对单一的大脑结构。失眠患者存在默认网络、突显网络、认知控制网络和负性情绪网络内部活动与连接异常, 而且呈现出以默认网络为核心, 包含认知控制网络、突显网络、负性情绪网络的网络间连接异常模式。此外, 结合症状、治疗和大尺度脑网络的视角, 可为失眠的“精准治疗”提供神经理论依据。未来研究可结合大数据和多模态分析技术, 验证静息态功能磁共振已有发现。而失眠的纵向追踪和队列研究会有利于进一步阐释失眠的神经机制。     

学龄儿童青少年脑智发育与学校适应的追踪队列研究

本文阐述了研究儿童青少年脑智发育的重要性以及研究过程中面临的局限性,介绍了本研究团队在儿童青少年脑智发育队列研究中的主要工作及特点:(1)结合临床和非临床精神健康筛查工具定量样本的精神健康特征;(2)构建以1岁为单位的6~12岁儿童脑结构模板;(3)从认知和非认知两个侧面系统考察学校适应;(4)从微观和宏观等多个角度定...     

发展性障碍儿童的脑发育特点及干预

随着发展认知神经科学的兴起, 研究者借助脑成像等技术探讨了发展性障碍儿童的脑结构发育特点, 发展缺陷与脑功能损伤的关系以及障碍干预和脑功能改善的机制等, 这为揭示发展性障碍儿童异常神经机制的共性和特异性, 进而为早期诊断和干预提供了重要的生物学标记。针对儿童期常见的发展性障碍, 从脑结构损伤、脑激活异常、脑网络连接和脑功能康复等方面对相关研究进行了总结, 指出未来研究应拓展角度, 注重揭示各发展性障碍之间异常脑发育特点的共性和特异性的具体表现、病理机制及基因基础等; 临床工作者应注重将脑发育的异常和功能改善用于辅助各类障碍的早期识别和干预效果评估。     

“养育脑”网络及其影响因素

“养育脑” (parental brain)是成人响应婴儿刺激(面孔、声音等)时, 大脑中与养育行为密切相关的一系列神经回路的总称, 主要涉及动机-奖赏、共情、情绪调节和执行功能等网络, 眶额皮层、前扣带皮层、前脑岛、杏仁核和辅助运动区等核心脑区。而成人养育经验、催产素和精神障碍特征等因素都会影响“养育脑”网络, 具体表现为育儿经验的增长以及催产素水平的提高促进了成人对婴儿刺激的加工, 而精神障碍则损害了其对婴儿刺激的加工。未来研究可考察追踪“养育脑”在不同时期大脑结构的变化以及多脑间的协调同步。另外, 还需进一步探究父亲异常“养育脑”的神经基础, 重视异常父母的预防和干预以及加强本土化研究。     

老年人的脑可塑性:来自认知训练的证据

老年人大脑结构和功能衰退是其认知功能下降的重要原因。然而,老年人的大脑仍然保持了一定的可塑性。随着神经影像技术的发展,大量研究发现认知训练能够对老年人的大脑结构和功能产生积极影响:(1)在脑结构方面,表现为大脑皮层灰质体积增加、白质神经纤维连接增强;(2)在进行认知任务时,表现为脑功能网络发生重组;(3)在静息态脑功能方面,表现为脑自发活动功能性重组以及功能连接增强。未来的认知训练研究需要考察老年人大脑可塑性存在个体差异的多种影响因素,并通过纵向追踪研究来探讨大脑可塑性的保持性和迁移效应。     

探究事件相关脑电/脑磁信号中的神经表征模式：基于分类解码和表征相似性分析的方法

探究不同心智活动下的神经表征差异, 是认知神经科学关注的核心问题之一。早期的脑电/脑磁分析方法主要关注组平均后的神经响应水平, 这要求在关注的时间进程上, 各个被试在相同刺激条件下事件相关电位/事件相关磁场的振幅大小和方向、以及地形图分布和极性均要有较高的一致性。近些年来, 研究者们将功能性磁共振成像研究中常用到的两种技术——机器学习中的分类算法(即基于分类的解码)和表征相似性分析——引入到了脑电/脑磁数据分析中。这两种新技术可以克服传统脑电/脑磁数据基于具体电压/磁感应强度波形平均分析的缺点, 具有在个体水平上探究神经表征编码的特点, 为人们探究大脑在不同时间进程上如何对特定的神经表征信息进行动态编码提供了新的思路。两种技术基于不同的方法学原理来抽提个体间一致的脑认知加工机制, 还为脑电/脑磁研究开展跨时域、跨任务、跨模态、跨群体比较不同认知过程中的表征差异提供了更多新颖的途径。我们首先通过与传统的脑电/脑磁分析方法进行比较, 系统性介绍了基于分类的解码和表征相似性分析的原理和操作流程, 之后对两种方法的应用场景进行了梳理, 并在最后对未来可供研究的方向提出了我们的见解。     

孤独症谱系障碍者的视觉-空间工作记忆缺陷及脑机制

孤独症谱系障碍(ASD)个体存在视觉-空间工作记忆加工缺陷,主要表现在4个方面,即随认知负荷增大而缺陷加重、工作记忆容量不足、工作记忆加工过程中的注意功能失调和对刺激进行整体组织的能力缺乏。神经机制研究显示,ASD个体存在明显的额-顶工作记忆网络激活异常,以及相关脑区的脑结构、白质连接异常。另外,作为基础性的认知加工过程,ASD个体的视觉-空间工作记忆各加工环节与言语工作记忆、执行功能、社会认知等因素均存在交互影响。纵观目前研究成果,未来研究可从研究手段、机制探究和干预训练三方面入手,着眼于研究方法的生态化和多元化,揭示客体和空间工作记忆的机制分离,并着力开发更具针对性的干预训练模式。     

Together – apart: in touch in a time of separation

This paper explores the experience of working as a Jungian analyst through the various phases of the global COVID-19 pandemic, examining the importance of the physical containing space alongside the analyst’s internal mind and how technology can both help and hinder understanding. A number of clinical vignettes illustrate the challenge of communicating over a distance, paying particular attention to the way countertransference phenomena can become re-attuned. Reference is made to mythology and symbols of hope, and consideration given to the meaning and purpose of the pandemic.     

The Possibility of Meaning in Human Evolution

Science undermines the certitude of non-naturalistic answers to the question of whether human life has meaning. I explore whether evolution can provide a naturalistic basis for existential meaning. Using the work of philosopher Daniel Dennett and scientist Ursula Goodenough, I argue that evolution is the locus of the possibility of meaning because it has produced intentionality, the matrix of consciousness. I conclude that the question of the meaning of human life is an existentialist one: existential meaning is a product of the individual and collective tasks human beings undertake.     

Phenotypic plasticity and archetype: a response to common objections to the biological theory of archetype and instinct

Since Jung’s death in 1961, scholars have attempted to integrate growing biological science data into Jungian concepts such as the collective unconscious, instincts and the archetypes. This enterprise has been challenging due to persistent false dichotomies of gene and environment occasionally arising. Recent works by Roesler (2022a, 2022b) for example, have raised objections to the biological theory of archetypes, but the objections are plagued by such dichotomies. The concept of phenotypic plasticity, however, helps to both avoid this problem as well as bridge the gap between competing theories into a more integrated model with solid biological foundations.     

When is it time to stop? When good enough becomes bad enough

This article draws on Winnicott’s concept of the good enough mother to discuss how to know whether a therapeutic situation is good enough to continue or bad enough to end. This dilemma is explored in terms of clinical syndromes, such as anorexia and pathological gambling, but focuses mainly on analyst-initiated endings, which are termed the ‘Casablanca dilemma’, based on an amplification of the ending of the film Casablanca. The author goes on to discuss such one-sided endings, drawing on interviews with 40 analysts and therapists about their clinical experience. A typology of bad enough endings is presented. The psychological differences between a good enough analysis as opposed to a bad enough one are explored through the ideas of Winnicott and Neumann.     

Kann Es Ein Argument Für Den Skeptizismus Geben? Das Epistemische Problem Der Irrtumsmöglichkeit

Summary  Is there any argument for scepticism? The epistemic problem of the possibility of error. Arguments for scepticism rest on the assumption that knowledge claims are fallible. For this reason the concept of knowledge appears to be questionable. Since it is necessary to distinguish doubts from possible doubts, the arguments for scepticism appear to be unconvincing. If we take it into account that we know something that is immune to doubt, we should draw the conclusion that, contrary to scepticism, knowledge claims have to be compatible with being fallible. Thus any knowledge claim is capable of being doubted.     

The transcendent function in Spitteler’s Prometheus and Epimetheus

In August 2020, John Beebe and Steve Myers met via Zoom to discuss their differing interpretations of psychological typology and the different sources within Jung’s writings that influenced their books: Integrity in Depth: Energies and Patterns in Psychological Type (Beebe), and Myers-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation (Myers). The discussion centred on Spitteler’s epic poem Prometheus und Epimetheus, which forms the basis of chapter V of Psychological Types. This is both the largest chapter and one of two chapters that Jung highlighted in the Argentine foreword as containing the essence of the book. Jung’s book is primarily about the transformation of personality rather than the categorization of people. Although it contains a critical psychology that deconstructs the nature of consciousness, that is only one half of the book and a stepping-stone to the other half, which is the reconciliation of opposites with particular emphasis on the relation of consciousness and the unconscious. Jung assumed that readers were already familiar with Prometheus und Epimetheus, an understanding of which sheds light on the nature of the transformation that Jung described – the development of a new attitude towards attitude itself.     

Chapter 6: Biblical Foundations for a Practical Theology of Aging

SUMMARY

This article reviews Biblical sources pertaining to the elderly, particularly the frail elderly. Founded on these sources, implications for elderly with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia are addressed through a personal perspective informed by writings of Christian mystics.     

Seeing in the Dark: A View into Dissociation and Healing

In this paper, I will explore the role of art-making, the experience of trauma and dissociation, and the process of working with self-states from an analytic and creative frame. Relevant literature on dissociation, trauma, and the use of art will be discussed. A case involving my work with an adolescent girl who had experienced sexual abuse from a family member will be shared, with an emphasis on the meaningful role images played during the therapeutic process. Both Jungian and psychoanalytic models of conceptualizing and working with dissociation are included, following Donald Kalsched’s (2013) recommendation for a “binocular stance” to treatment, including both a focus on the inner, intrapsychic world and the interpersonal, relational realm, and how art images both illuminated and expressed these realms. Within the therapeutic process, art images allowed the therapist a view into the client’s unconscious process, and created a meeting ground for dissociative barriers to be gradually seen, felt and known, by both therapist and client. The experience of dissociation, in images and in session, provided a reference point for myself and my client, Taylor, to develop a shared understanding and a framework for growth.